The Finance Ministry on Saturday gave relief in filing income tax returns by extending due dates for Assessment Year (AY) 2020-21 that is, Fiscal Year 2019-20.

Listen to this podcast to know what an assessment year is

 

An individual and other (including salaried) taxpayer, who are not subject to audit, can now file return till December 31. Normally due date for such taxpayer is July 31, which was extended to November 30

It has been decided that the due date for furnishing of Income Tax Returns for the taxpayers (including their partners), who are required to get their accounts audited, will now be January 31, 2021 as against October31.  Similarly, the due date for furnishing of Income Tax Returns for the taxpayers who are required to furnish report in respect of international/specified domestic transactions has been extended to January 31, 2021 as against November 30.

Also listen to this podcast

 

Consequently, the date for furnishing of various audit reports under the Act has also been extended to December 31.

In order to provide relief for the second time to small and middle-class taxpayers in the matter of payment of self-assessment tax, the due date for payment of self-assessment tax date has been extended. Accordingly,the due date for payment of self-assessment tax for taxpayers whose self-assessment tax liability is up to Rs. 1 lakh will now be January 31 as against November 30. For such taxpayers, who are required to get their account audited, due date would be December31.

What happens if you don't make the payments by the due date? Listen

 

In view of the challenges faced by taxpayers in meeting the statutory and regulatory compliances due to the outbreak of Covid-19, the Government brought the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation of Certain Provisions) Ordinance on March 31, which extended various time limits. The Ordinance has since been replaced by the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Act. The Government issued a Notification on June 24 for extending due date for all Income Tax Returns for last fiscal. Now, it has been revised again.

"The taxpayers, who have not yet paid their complete tax liability and are required to pay self-assessment tax more than Rs 1 lakh, will need to be mindful and pay taxes within original due dates, to avoid charging of interest u/s 234A for filing of ITR beyond original due date. For Taxpayers who don't have a self-assessment tax liability to pay or such amount is upto INR 1 lakh, this is an absolute extension without any additional burden,” Shailesh Kumar, Partner at Nangia & Co LLP said.

comment COMMENT NOW